Belly-aches in Belgium!

Hey everyone!

Janita and I are BACK! After two weeks and 4 countries we arrived back into the Netherlands with heaps of photos and a HUGE collection of great memories.

First stop - Belgium. Here are some of the highlights: the beautiful city of Gent, wandering around the cute city streets, visiting Ypres and seeing a lot more WW1 history, trying a lot of delicious chocolate, testing out a few beers and camping.

Here are some of the interesting events - camping in the grottiest camp site ever that had THE MOST DISGUSTING excuse for a bathroom, setting up the tent in all sorts of weather, the flea market in Brussels (which looked like someone had backed up a truck and tipped a whole lot of garage sale junk onto the ground), the rain, rain, rain, rain and oh, did I mention the rain?

Here is some evidence of our travels :)

Enjoy,
Love Sarah xxx

Chocolate in Antwerp - eat too much and you get a belly-ache :)

First attempt at setting up the tent - it took 1 hour, would you believe?! The next time - 30 mins, then 22 minutes and after that we had it down to about 15 minutes - at least we improved :)

The beautiful city of Gent - it had heaps of outside sitting areas, filled with tables, where everyone sat to have dinner or a drink. It had such a great atmosphere!

The Australian War Cemetery in Ypres. I have never seen so many gravestones in one place... gives you the goosebumps...

Poppies - in Flanders Fields! Ypres is actually in the area known as Flanders Fields. It is true that poppies grow everywhere in the region. We went to the Essex Farm Cemetery, which is in the exact location where John McRae wrote his now famous poem. So cool to actually see the area!

The Tyne Cot Cemetery - the largest military cemetery in Europe. It is absolutely HUGE - wherever you look, it seems that the gravestones are endless

The Menin Gate - so much bigger than I ever imagined!

Just a few of the names - add this to the amount of gravestones we saw and you realise the incredible loss of life in WW1. You can read the figures in a book, but when you seen the gravestones and the names written out, it seems so much greater

The buglers playing The Last Post - at 8pm every night, under the Menin Gate, the buglers play The Last Post, in memory of the fallen. On the night we were there, a much more formal service was conducted because a group from the Canadian Army were visiting. The service lasted for about 20 minutes and included a marching band, the Last Post, the Ode, wreath laying and also the short poem pictured below. There were so many people there - an incredible experience!

This was read during the service

We then headed off to Bruge - and visited a chocolate museum.

This is the best bloke I've met in Europe so far!

To work off all the chocolate we hired a tandem bike for an hour. Was quite a hilarious experience! Such a strange feeling, trying to balance with two people :)

Mannekin Pis in Brussels. I expected a decent sized statue. This thing is INCREDIBLY small! I was warned that the size is a let down - but the fact it was actually as small as it is was so funny! And to think it's one of the most visited statues in Europe... hilarious!

What do you think this is? Have a guess and then scroll down for the answer...

One of the Belgian beers I tried. There are so many, it's hard to choose, so I just told the bartender what kind of beer I liked and he chose for me :) That worked really well, coz I ended up with some great beers! Could definitely become a beer drinker if I lived in Belgium!

ANSWER:

It's a beer menu!! We went to Delirium Cafe in Brussels which is in the Guinness Book of Records for having the most beer options on their menu - over 2004! Yes, 2004!! Incredible, isn't it! How can you choose a beer when you have so many options?!

Next stop: Luxembourg!

Belgium bring it on!

Hey everyone,

Just a quick post to let you all know that I'm heading off to Belgium and Switzerland with Janita for the next two weeks! We packed the car today and we're ready for adventure! We have lots of plans - to visit a few cool cities in Belgium and try out the beer & chocolates of course!

Then it will be a drive through Luxembourg, where we'll spend a day or so, before hitting up Switzerland and the magnificent landscape it has to offer :) Swiss Alps, get ready for us!

So... you may not hear from me for a while... we're camping so who knows when and where I'll have internet connection. Never fear, I'll be back with some photos to share in no time flat!

I just want to share a few parts of Psalm 8 with you - the more time I've spent in the wonders of God's creation, the more often I've thought of this psalm and the truth it holds.

O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your Name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens......
When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers....
What is man that you are mindful of him?
And teh son of man that you care for him?
... O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

What a Mighty and Loving Father we have! To Him be all the glory.

Have a great few weeks. God's blessings and love to you all,
Love Sarah xxx

Want a taste of Ireland?

I have thousands (literally!) of photos of Ireland and it was so hard for me to choose a few to put on my blog!

Here is one I missed :)

If you want a taste of Ireland but don't have the time to travel to the otherside of the globe, give this a go!

You'll love it. Just shut your eyes and imagine green hills, cliffs, Irish accents, Irish music & Irish dancing.

If you want an even more authentic experience, put on some Celtic music.

If you want an even, even, even more authentic experience and you live in Tassie, you can ask Sharene if you can lend my Lord of the Dance DVD BUT please look after it! It's something I am going to NEED when I get home :)

Enjoy a coffee and think of me :)

Sarah xx

Incredible Ireland

Hey everyone,

Here are some more pictures of a country that is definitely up there in my favourites!! Irish people are the best - so friendly, entertaining and welcoming. The scenery is second to none. The atmosphere is fantastic. I had a GREAT time! Truly experiences I will never forget. Cameras can't capture things like they are in real life.... but you will get the idea :)

Enjoy these photos - and put Ireland on you 'must visit' list!

Love Sarah xxx

The Brazen Head - Ireland's oldest pub. Great live Irish music!

A round tower in Glendalough (pronounced Gledalock) - the Irish used to climb in here to escape from enemies. Not a bad attempt at a self-portrait, wouldn't you say?!

I just love the character of Irish pubs - it oozes out onto the streets

Exploring Achill Island - in the North West-ish. I say 'ish' because it isn't truly North West, but it's not West either... :) Kinda in between! Achill Island is a stunning part of the country that many people skip over - I went there on the advice of a young bog farmer, who I got to talking to as I was photographing amazing scenery. Best advice ever!! I visited there with Frankie, a Canadian girl that I hired a car with for a few days. We had a great time!

This is Ireland at its best

Rolling green hills - some of my favourite things

I climbed up this! Well... most of the way... the last section leading to the top was practically vertical and impossible for me to scale. Didn't want to risk the old knee... It's MUCH steeper than it looks :)

Some of the great views I got as a result of clambering up rocks

As Frankie and I were heading back towards Dublin we came across some school kids playing Gaelic Football - we watched for a few minutes - it's a sport that looks like lots of fun! A good mix between AFL and soccer

Frankie and I having a drink in Dublin to celebrate our adventures

A lake in the Wicklow Mountains. Stunning!

After travelling with Frankie I went on a short overnight tour to Northern Ireland. This is a castle on Slane Hill. We clambered up it! Was easy, coz it had stairs :)

Walking towards the Carrick-a-rede rope bridge

The bridge - 30 m above water, leading to a cool little island

The Giant's Causeway - stunning rock formations! Irish legend says Fionn McCool - an Irish giant - built it all the way across to Scotland so he could be with the girl he loved

Sitting on the part of the road to Scotland :)

We stayed in Derry - also known as Londonderry - a city of great unrest and home of Bloody Sunday

WB Yeats - the great Irish poet

Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths,

Enwrought with golden and silver light,

The blue and the dim and the dark cloths

Of night and light and the half-light,

I would spread the cloths under your feet:

But I, being poor, have only my dreams;

I have spread my dreams under your feet,

Tread softly because you tread on my dreams
W.B. Yeats

Adam, our tour guide and bus driver - a great bloke with a real flair for story telling!

The Atlantic Ocean

Captured it! Irish dancing in action :) The dancers move incredibly fast!

Goodbye Ireland :(

I'll be back :)

A girl and her backpack

I thought it was about time to add a picture of me and the backpack.... this is what's it is like when I'm moving around from place to place! Even though I packed as lightly as I could, this backpack does get heavy after a while!! I'm certainly glad to be putting it down when I arrive at the next destination. I don't complain though coz if I want to have something with me, then I have to be prepared to carry it :)
Photo: compliments of Janita

The land of the leprechauns - take 2

Hello everyone,

Here are some more pictures of my amazing Irish adventures! I've seen so much of the country, met so many great people and visited some incredibly beautiful places. Ireland is a stunning piece of God's creation, there is no doubt about it. When you explore the country side you can't help but sing, 'Our God is an Awesome God', for His works of creation here in this land of green truly are awesome!

Below are some pictures of my first 5 days in Ireland :) Enjoy them!

Love Sarah xx

My first glimpse from the plane window

Hillary, Cat & Liz - three girls from Pennsylvania that I met on my first day here. We spent the next day together exploring Dublin and visiting the Guinness Brewery - where you have a pint of Guinness of course!

I've never been a huge fan of Guinness, I'm sorry to say. I did think that drinking it in Ireland may change my mind... while I can get through a pint, I can't say that I've been converted to the black stuff.....

The next day I began a road trip with Kylie and Nat - two girls I met at the hostel! They asked me if I was interested in joining them and within the hour I had packed my bags, had breakfast, showered and was on the road with them. A fantastic few days!! Here are some high crosses - you see them in graves all through Ireland. While they have various meanings, these high crosses mark graves and were thought to ward off evil spirits. High crosses were also carved, some depicting Bible stories, which are described as pictorial sermons. Really interesting!

I love this! Stone walls, which you see all throughout Ireland, when you get out of the city. I really love how you can see the green grass through the wall. Something little that really excited me :)

A monastic site - we explored this site really well - the graveyard, round tower, cathedrals and other buildings. We spent a lot of time here, due to the fact that our car keys went missing somewhere in the fields.... they fell out of Nat's pocket and after 5 hours of searching we were wondering what to do... the kind man who lived nearby had been helping us look and he came across them. Unbelievable! I was so glad to be in a bed that night :)

The stunning Cliffs of Moher! We walked along the top of these cliffs, absolutely stunning! Photos just don't do justice...

They were very high - Dad, you would have hated it!

Kylie, Nat & I

Rolling green hills, beautiful, aren't they?

Green hills, stone walls and sheep running all over. A real picture of Psalm 23 - 'The Lord is my Shepherd'

The cute coastal town of Dingle. We enjoyed fish and chips for dinner looking over the water, was a really lovely way to end the day!

Saw this sign in one of the shop windows. Classic, hey!! Didn't bother finding out if there were any worthwhile ones :)

As we were driving around we happened across this old castle. Was loads of fun scrambling through it - still had some stairs intact, so we clambered up and were rewarded with an amazing view! Spot me there? That's the highest we could go unfortunately...

Classic Ireland - a beach, with a stone ruin.... only in Ireland! Oh, and probably Scotland too, but haven't been there yet.... :)

The Blarney Castle

and the rest of the photos are on my previous post! Am pleased to find the internet is being more cooperative today :)

The land of the lephrechauns

Hello everyone,

It's been a while! I'm in Ireland and it's been amazing - amazing scenery, amazing history, amazing people, amazing dancing, amazing music, amazing everything! An experience never to forget. I've tried 3 times today to load photos and the internet doesn't seem to be letting me so I'm going to post this and then try again. If not, stay tuned over the next few days! Welcome to the world of technical problems overseas :)

Hope all is well with you! You're all in my prayers, especially Sylv, Des and little Levi. Can't wait to meet you!

Love Sarah xxx


Kissing the Blarney Stone - this isn't me! I got someone else to take my picture - which resulted in an unbelievable photo of my chest... and the tourist shot is priced at $25 AUD.... not worth getting crumpled in my backpack!

It's a long way to Tipperary! Not for me at the moment.... :) Here I am with Kylie and Nat - two girls I met in Dublin that I travelled around the South West of Ireland with. Thanks guys!

Some amazing Irish dancing - their feet move incredibly fast... oh to be that quick!

Another shot - it's so cool to watch, your eyes need to move so fast to keep up with it